Intense campaign ends for 2nd phase of Odisha polls

Bhubaneswar : The high-decibel campaigning ended on Saturday for five Lok Sabha seats and 35 Assembly constituencies in Odisha, which will go to polls on May 20.

Among the prominent candidates in the second round of simultaneous elections in the State are BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, and his colleagues in the State government Bikram Arukha, Niranjan Pujari, Pradip Kumar Amat, Tukuni Sahu, Rita Sahu and Sarada Prasad Nayak.

Ex-Union minister and Sundargarh’s sitting MP Jual Oram, former Indian hockey captain Dilip Tirkey, former Union minister and hotelier Dilip Ray and BJP’s four-time Lok Sabha member Sangeeta Singh Deo are also in the fray in this round of elections. Naveen is seeking re-election from his home turf Hinjili and also contesting from Kantabanji Assembly segment under Bolangir Lok Sabha seat this time.

Altogether, 40 candidates are contesting from Aska, Kandhamal, Bolangir, Bargarh and Sundargarh Lok Sabha seats, while 265 are in the fray for 35 Assembly constituencies. Altogether, 79.62 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise on May 20. The BJD had won Aska and Kandhamal Lok Sabha seats in 2019, while three others had gone to the BJP.

The State, during this round of electioneering, witnessed heavyweights of the ruling BJD, and the Opposition BJP and Congress canvassing for their respective candidates. Prominent leaders who campaigned during this round of elections included Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president J P Nadda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and its leader Rahul Gandhi.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Dev Sai, Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma and Tripura’s ex-CM Biplab Kumar Deb also hit the campaign trail. During the campaigning, PM Modi launched a scathing attack on the Chief Minister, accusing him of destroying the Odia “Asmita” (pride).

Naveen termed the campaign speeches by BJP leaders as ‘’derogatory and abusive’’. ‘’Some chief ministers and Union ministers come as political tourists only at the time of elections and then they disappear,’’ Naveen told a news agency.

Personal attacks by political leaders cutting across the parties dominated the campaign in the second phase of elections in the State, while issues like price rise and under-development were getting subdued.

On the last of electioneering on Saturday, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw campaigned for BJP’s Jual Oram in Bonai, while BJP MP and actress Hema Malini hit the campaign trail for party candidates in Angul, Pallahara and Deogarh under the Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat. Former Union minister and Congress leader Sachin Pilot was seen canvassing for the party candidate in Balasore Lok Sabha seat.

From BJD, Naveen and his aide V K Pandian also held whirlwind campaigning across the State.

This phase of campaigning was intense as the BJP put its efforts to retain Bargarh, Bolangir and Sundargarh Lok Sabha seats.

The campaigning in the Aska Lok Sabha constituency was partially affected due to poll violence in which a BJP worker was killed in Ganjam district, the home district of the Chief Minister.